Sausage Risotto
My friends and I made this for dinner the other night and it was fantastic. Risotto doesn't have to be stirred constantly like most chefs claim; the key is to make sure it never dries out too much without babying it so much that you delay the absorption.
INGREDIENTS
1 lb. sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
1 medium onion, medium dice
8 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp. fresh thyme
3 bell peppers, medium dice
1 lb. crimini mushrooms, destemmed and quartered
1 lb. asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1" pieces, blanched
2 tbsp. fresh sage, minced
2 c. arborio rice
4 c. chicken stock
1 bottle of white wine
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Dollop or two of cold heavy cream
1 c. grated Parmesan
3 tbsp. flat leaf parsley, minced
DIRECTIONS
1. Brown the sausage and break it up in the pan until it's mostly cooked through. Remove from pan and reserve some of the fat for cooking.
2. Saute onions over medium-high heat until translucent. Add garlic and sautee for about 1 minute. Add thyme and bell peppers. Continue sauteeing for about 3 minutes.
3. Add mushrooms. Sautee for about 5 minutes. Take this time to heat your chicken stock on the stove so it's steaming but not boiling. Add the asparagus and sage and stir to combined.
4. Add the rice and stir until it's well distributed. Sautee for about 2 minutes. Begin adding stock, one ladle at a time, and letting it absorb in between. Stir occasionally. After every 2 ladles, add 1/4 - 1/2 c. wine.
5. Continue this process until all liquid is absorbed, after about 20 minutes, begin checking the rice for doneness. Risotto should have no bite to the texture at all, it should be completely soft and it may take some time. If you don't need all the liquid, that's fine. If you use all the wine and stock and still need more liquid, get more stock or move on to water.
6. Once the risotto is finished, take it off the heat and add the rest of the ingredients. The cream stops it from cooking and adds to the creaminess. Serve.
The wine we used was a $3 bottle of Charles Shaw Pinot Grigio from Trader Joe's. It's actually quite good, even to drink, and excellent for cooking.
INGREDIENTS
1 lb. sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
1 medium onion, medium dice
8 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp. fresh thyme
3 bell peppers, medium dice
1 lb. crimini mushrooms, destemmed and quartered
1 lb. asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1" pieces, blanched
2 tbsp. fresh sage, minced
2 c. arborio rice
4 c. chicken stock
1 bottle of white wine
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Dollop or two of cold heavy cream
1 c. grated Parmesan
3 tbsp. flat leaf parsley, minced
DIRECTIONS
1. Brown the sausage and break it up in the pan until it's mostly cooked through. Remove from pan and reserve some of the fat for cooking.
2. Saute onions over medium-high heat until translucent. Add garlic and sautee for about 1 minute. Add thyme and bell peppers. Continue sauteeing for about 3 minutes.
3. Add mushrooms. Sautee for about 5 minutes. Take this time to heat your chicken stock on the stove so it's steaming but not boiling. Add the asparagus and sage and stir to combined.
4. Add the rice and stir until it's well distributed. Sautee for about 2 minutes. Begin adding stock, one ladle at a time, and letting it absorb in between. Stir occasionally. After every 2 ladles, add 1/4 - 1/2 c. wine.
5. Continue this process until all liquid is absorbed, after about 20 minutes, begin checking the rice for doneness. Risotto should have no bite to the texture at all, it should be completely soft and it may take some time. If you don't need all the liquid, that's fine. If you use all the wine and stock and still need more liquid, get more stock or move on to water.
6. Once the risotto is finished, take it off the heat and add the rest of the ingredients. The cream stops it from cooking and adds to the creaminess. Serve.
The wine we used was a $3 bottle of Charles Shaw Pinot Grigio from Trader Joe's. It's actually quite good, even to drink, and excellent for cooking.